Wednesday, December 17, 2008

...Minutes From the Mall

Hello Hello, 3 pots of coffee, lots of Super Mario Brothers, a few Beatles magazines and 11 hours of recording and we present to you the 4th installment of The Takeover UK's annual Christmas song pageant, "Christmas in LA". We started the band 4 & 1/2 years ago, and every Christmas we've wrote and recorded our own Christmas song (except for last years which was a cover of that Phil Spector X-mas tune. Long story). The plan is to have our own album of Christmas originals in a few years. We might have to double up in the coming years, pumping out 2 a year or what have you. But that shouldn't be a problem. Lack of material has never been a problem. Either way, I can't think of any rock band of yesterday or today that's released an album of Christmas originals. Hopefully we can be the first. It's not that we particularly love Christmas music. Sure, I like a couple odd songs here or there, but on the whole I change the station when Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer comes in, as I'm sure you do too. I guess we just like the idea of it. Besides, it's not like our songs are the normal holiday fare. Who said Christmas songs have to have a positive and uplifting message? We're back home now, trying to settle into some kind of normal routine, which is easier for some than others. I'll let you know when I've found one. We're taking the rest of the year off, which sounds like a long time but remember, that's only a couple weeks. We'll be back out touring early next year and our album is now set to come out Tuesday, March 24th. So now we're scrambling to get the artwork doneWe're also just putting the finishing touches on our first video, for "Ah La La". It's a fun video, if I don't say so myself. Then again, we probably don't share the same sense of humor as most people. But hopefully you'll all enjoy it. In total randomness, the holidays remind me of this one T.V. commercial that used to be played all the time here in Pittsburgh when I was a youth. I'm sure most locals of a certain age will recall it. It was for some car dealership, but it stuck out because they had a great jingle that a bunch of kids sang with a bouncing ball jumping from each word. "Century Three, Chevrolet, Lebanon Church Road Pittsburgh". As soon as the jingle was over, one youngster said "Minutes from the Mall". I bring this up because in my more dubious days, I used to tell people, mostly girls, that I in fact, was the youngster who said "minutes from the mall", my first foray into showbiz. Of course, I was not the youngster who said the quasi-famous line and of course even if I was, it's certainly nothing to brag about. And that's why so many people believed me. Who would make up such a thing? Regardless, I'd just like to apologize now If I misled anyone. And to the kid, who is surely an adult now, probably with a subprime mortgage, I didn't mean to steal your thunder. You did a great job.Mark